1936 Lancia Astura Pinin Farina cabriolet. Photos by Mark McCourt.
After 28 classes of automobiles were judged, it came down to a trio of final contestants for the ultimate concours d’elegance prize: Best of Show at Pebble Beach. Though each appeared equally magnificent, there can be only one winner, and for the first time in the concours’s history, a Lancia, specifically the 1936 Lancia Astura Pinin Farina cabriolet owned by Richard Mattei of Paradise Valley, Arizona, was selected as the 2016 Pebble Beach Best of Show.
One of six cars similarly bodied by Pinin Farina for a Lancia dealer known as “Bocca,” the car was delivered to its first owner in 1936. Its prewar history is unknown, but in the postwar years the Astura found its way to the U.K., owned by the chief engineer for British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). By the early 1960s, the Lancia had been largely forgotten, left parked in a Surrey garden.
In 1962, a pair of Lancia enthusiasts, Ronald Barker and Michael Scott, “discovered” the car, then badly in need of restoration. According to a 2010 Gooding & Company catalog description, the car was purchased by Scott for £15 (then, roughly $40), simply to save it from further destruction.
Knowing the car’s ties to Pinin Farina, Barker reached out to the Italian coachbuilder and design firm, perhaps to learn more of the Astura’s history. Instead, he was reportedly given a very generous offer by Battista Farina himself: If the car was returned to Pininfarina, the company would carry out the restoration at no charge to Scott.
It took a year to get the Lancia running and mechanically sorted, but Scott drove the car from the U.K. to Pininfarina’s home near Turin. The restoration took an additional 18 months, and involved some of the artisans who’d originally worked on crafting the Lancia’s coachwork. Scott took delivery of the car in 1965, and it remained the crown jewel in his collection until 1976, when the car was sold to musician Eric Clapton.
Clapton called the Astura “the most fun I’ve had off stage and out of bed,” and given the guitarist’s long-term passion for Ferrari automobiles, that’s quite a statement. The Lancia remained with Clapton until the late 1980s, when it was offered for sale at auction and purchased by Pininfaria for its own collection.
In 2009, the car was acquired by Richard Mattei, who offered it for sale at Pebble Beach in 2010. When the car failed to meet its reserve price, Mattei engaged in a six-year restoration, bringing the Lancia to its current flawless condition and earning him the top prize in the collector car world. On its way to Best of Show, the Lancia collected a European Classic Early class win, plus the Gwenn Graham award for the most elegant convertible.
The other automobiles in the final three included a 1938 Delahaye 165 Figoni & Falaschi cabriolet, owned by the Robert M. Lee Automobile Collection, and a 1931 Stutz DV-32 LeBaron Cabriolet Victoria, owned by Joseph and Margie Cassini III.
See original article at" https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/08/22/1936-lancia-astura-earns-marques-first-best-of-show-at-pebble-beach/
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